4.0 FARES POLICY

4.1 The Draft Ferries Plan includes the following proposals regarding fares policy:

We will replace the route-specific nature of fare-setting with one single overarching framework.
We will roll out Road Equivalent Tariff (RET) across the network as the basis for single fares for passengers and cars.
We will work with operators to better manage demand where necessary. Stakeholders must be consulted.
We are not satisfied that RET for commercial traffic is cost effective. Therefore, in the short term we will continue to support existing discount schemes such as the Traders Rebate Scheme. In the longer term it is our aim to develop an overarching freight fares policy.
Once RET is introduced there will be no need for multi-journey discounts.
RET will be rolled out further during the term of this Parliament. An announcement was made on 29 November.
A new system of annual fares reviews will be implemented in line with the cost of travel.
In the current Northern Isles tender and the next Clyde and Hebrides Ferry Services (CHFS) tender we will make it a requirement for ferry operators to work with other transport providers to encourage integrated ticketing and better timetabling.

4.2 The results of the RET pilot in the Western Isles, Coll and Tiree show a substantial increase in patronage, with an increase of 30 per cent in car traffic in the first year of the pilot.

4.3 The proposal to commit to a roll-out of RET across the network has been assessed at a very high level. The potential environmental effects of this decision are illustrated in Figure 5. The decision to roll out RET across the ferry network in the long term is likely to result in increased car journeys, which would result in increased atmospheric emissions, including greenhouse gases. For other modes of transport, the effects are likely to be either an increase in emissions (e.g. from increased numbers of buses) or to be neutral in nature, where use levels are not expected to change, and therefore existing emission levels would not be affected.

4.4 The most efficient means of achieving a decrease in atmospheric emissions from vehicles, while at the same time rolling out RET across the network, would be to encourage journeys by public transport and thereby reduce the number of individual car journeys. There are a number of ways in which this could be achieved, such as restricting the number of cars on ferries or working to reduce fares on public transport. However, the former would have unacceptable impacts on coastal and island communities, and the latter is outwith the remit of this Draft Ferries Plan. A more meaningful way to do this would be to improve the integration of ferry timetables with those for public transport (i.e. bus and rail), and the Scottish Government will encourage this through the current Northern Isles tender and the next CHFS tender.

Figure 5. Potential Environmental Effects of Road Equivalent Tariff Roll Out